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Saving Grace
The Odd Pairing Elias, a dirty, scared, disheveled looking man, in street clothes, layed on a weight bench struggling to rack the bar. His elbows faltered, dropping the bar onto his chest. His eyes widened, as he thrashed around, eventually managing to roll out from under it. Falling onto the floor gasping for air. His forehead dripping with sweat. "Are you finished?" a monotone voice asked from behind Elias. Standing on the opposite side of the bench from Elias was a dark looking young man. His wild black hair partially obstructed his eyes, which seemed unusually dark. The slender young man was slightly taller than average, wearing black sweat pants and a navy blue tank top that left his lean arms exposed. The young man looked at Elias, no emotion registering on his face as he did. "Are you finished?" the young man repeated. Elias continued to gasp for air, staring at the floor. His fingers currled against the mat. "Wha-" He began to say, before he started violently coughing. "What? Yeah... Yeah... I'm done." He said falling to his side, and curling up on the ground. Ignoring the fallen man, Ian proceeded to remove a weight plate from either side of the bar before sitting down on the bench. Making not noise besides his enduring breaths, Ian held the bar up over his body, lifting his torso in a shallow sit-up motion. Ian help this position for a moment before again lying flat on the bench, then repeating the same motion several more times while Elias remained on the floor. 20 barbell crunches was Ian's goal, part of his usual warm up for his core muscles. After catching his breath, which took unhealthily long, Elias crawled to the side of the bench to grab his jacket, a tattered blue winter coat, with a dirty red scarf hanging from the pocket, before standing up and putting it on. He leaned against a pillar, and pulled out a cigarette, then he looked around finding a 'No Smoking' sign, and stuffing the unlit cigarette back in to his pocket. "So..." He said glancing around "What do you do? I mean... Umm... Working?" Ian finished his 20 reps as Elias asked him the question, gently lowering the bar back back down onto the rack and sitting back up. Hearing the word "working" had registered in Ian's head, though he did not believe it was used in the context he wanted it to be. "Working?" Ian asked, expressing he was unsure of the older gentleman's question. "Depends what you mean." "Like for cash. How do you get your cash?" Elias reiterates. "I do what people with money are willing to pay for." Ian stated, standing up from the bench to add more plates. "As long as the work is clean." "Oh yeah? Same here. I'm broke... Spent all my money on a pi-" Elias stopped, as if sharply interupted. His eyes widened, as he paused for a few seconds, then mumbled an affirmation. "W- Well, if you happen to come into any work, that you need an extra hand with you should look me up... Oh, uhh... I'm- My name's Elias." He held out his hand. Ian, now sitting on the bench once again, looked at Elias' hand for a moment, quickly weighing the pros and cons of even a simple unbinding relationship with the stranger. His natural skepticism made him wary of any sort of quick alliances. "Ian." he replied, not quite ready to shake Elias' hand. "What is it exactly you can do?" "What ever I can get paid for. I mean... As long as it's not... Y'know. Too bad." The way Elias said this made it clear that what he considered 'too bad' was a relativly short list. The fingers of his outstretched hand began to sag, as he waited for Ian to shake it. "And ability wise?" Ian asked, still not shaking Elias' hand. He didn't feel such a formality was necessary. Besides, if Elias knew of Ian's power, he almost certainly would almost certainly not want to shake his hand and risk the loss of any of his extremities. Elias's hand slowly fell to his side. "Abillities? Uhh... Well... I'm- I'm just a normal, average guy..." He blurtted out awkwardly. After a brief pause he spoke again, with a sudden frantic realization. "Oh! Oh! Oh... He meant... I'm... Very resourceful... I... Can use a gun. All sorts of stuff like that." Ian was skeptical about a possible alliance. Elias didn't appear to offer very much to the table. A simple being, and judging by his work on the bench and the cigarette in his pocket, not even a healthy one. He seemed like he could even be a liability. But there were obvious cons to an alliance between them. Clients were more likely to hire a team rather than an individual, as it theoretically increases the chance the job is carried out successfully. Of course that means splitting the money, but since Ian was having trouble finding work, the smaller pay day seemed much better than no pay day at all. After careful (though brief to avoid a long and awkward silence) Ian decided he could use a temporary partner. "So do you know of any work?" Ian finally asked Elias, lying back on the bench and beginning his bench presses. "Ehh...." He groans nervously "No... Not at the moment... But! But if I find anything, I'll come here. You seem to come here regularly. I'll come here and I'll tell you. So, then if you come into some work, you'll come here, and tell me. I come here every morning, get some coffee, in the lobby, read the paper, maybe lift some weights." Elias explained. Good. Ian thought. Any ally easy to keep track of is a good ally. "I guess I'll know where to find you then." Ian said, again racking the barbell. "I have an apartment close by, so I won't be to hard to reach if-" "Creep!" Elias and Ian heard from further down the row of workout equipment. The yell had gotten both their attentions, as they turned to see two men cornering a young woman. The men were both shorter muscular men, Ian recognized them as regulars at the gym. He mentally refereed to the first, the taller of the two with a pointed bald head and barbwire tattoo on his arm, as Conehead, and his shorter flowing blond haired acquaintance as Goldilocks. They two had harassed Ian once, but quickly ceased when he gave no reaction. They were harmless for the most part, but their movements seemed less coordinated than usual, indicating they were either high or drunk. Conehead was leaning up against the wall below a pull up bar, while Goldilocks stud at his flank effectively trapping the poor girl against a triceps extension machine. Ian leaned back on the bench, trying to get a better glimpse of the girl. She way probably a few years older than him, 5' 7", black hair, dark skin, athletic curves. Ian didn't recognize her as a regular, knowing he would remember seeing an attractive girl like that around here. With the only other people in the gym either minding the own business or simply ignoring the girl to stay off of the meat wagon's bad side, it didn't seen anyone was jumping to the girl's rescue. Deciding the young girl was in need of some of his "heroics" Ian got up from the bench and looked at Elias, his expression remaining exactly the same as it had throughout their entire conversation. "I'm gonna take care of something real quick." Ian informed Elias. "Your welcome to show me how you handle yourself if you like, or just get a good view of what ''I can do. With that, Ian began making his way over to confront Conehead and Goldilocks. "I'm sure you've got this covered... And if not I'll be here." Elias said pulling out his cigarette, sticking it in the corner of his mouth and lighting it. Gym management would soon have bigger problems to deal with, than smoking indoors. Ian approached the two men casually, placing himself between Goldilocks and the woman. Goldilocks stepped back, surprised by Ian's sudden appearance. The woman immediately slipped out of her corner and stepped behind Ian, placing him between the two meat heads. "What's your problem?" Conehead slurred at Ian, confirming the suspicion the two muscle bound baboons were intoxicated. At noon no less. "We were just talkin'" Goldilocks added. Ian stud motionless as the two men waited for an answer. The confrontation had gained the attention of a majority of the gym's population, though the young man that worked the front counter was nowhere in site. "I'm talking to you." Conehead informed Ian. After another silent treatment, Conehead leaned forward, giving the younger man a hard push on the shoulder. Ian simply turned his body, allowing the man's hand to glance off his shoulder, a common martial arts tactic. Though Conehead was apparently much more intoxicated than Ian had thought, she he followed his arm and bumped chests with Ian. Conehead, taking Ian's defense and an offensive maneuver, leaned back and attempted to throw a drunken hook at Ian's head. Ian easily ducked under the relatively slow strike, leaving Conehead's fist free to connect with the top of the triceps machine, cracking the plastic casing over the metal. While having ducked under the hook, Ian delivered a quick chop to the larger man's groin. Ian then came back up, delivering a elbow to Conehead's jaw that certainly would have shattered the bone had Ian not held back. Conehead staggered back, falling against a rack of weight plates that gave a loud clang when the large man slammed against them. Goldilocks, slow to react, attempted to avenge his fallen friend with a jab at Ian. Again, intoxication and fighting proved to be a poor combination as Ian easily dodged the jab. Not pulling his arm back in time, Goldilocks made it fairly easy for Ian to grab his arm. Having taken hold of his enemy, Ian proceeded to stun the man with a hard kick to the sternum and then step into the wounded man's guard. Maintaining his grip on the arm of Goldilocks, Ian bowed forward, sending the drunken man over back and to a hard landing on the floor. Not giving his impaired adversary time to recover. Ian delivered a swift kick to Goldilocks' head. Having successfully subdued both men, Ian glanced at the young woman, who had her mouth dropped open looking at the downed men. Ian's face remained the same, as if taking down the two drunk men was not in the least out of the ordinary. "That was... kinda cool." the woman uttered. Ian could only think one thing. S''core! The sound of metal on metal interrupted Ian's moment of pleasure. Ian whipped around to see Conehead had risen, now with a 25 pound weight plate cocked back in his hands. The man's speed was still impaired, but he had taken Ian by surprise. Instinctively, Ian trusted his hands outwards in defense as the man swung the plate. In mid swing, Ian's hands passed under the metal plate, and the plate instantaneously separated into two pieces. Conehead, already working with poor balance, was completely taken off guard as the swing struck open air, sending him face firsts into a racked barbell. The top half of the weight plate flew past the opposite side of Ian's head, brushing his hair as it passed. The severed section of the plate soared through the air, connecting with the glass panel door towards the front of the gym and smashing through the window. The young employee, just now having reappeared, stud on the other side of the desk, not far from the shattered door. Ian again glanced at the young woman, who's expression had intensified to one of utter shock. Shoot. Ian thought. She just saw the plate get sliced in half. I can still get this one, I just need an excuse. Let's see, why would the plate suddenly separate like that? Ummm. Damn. After an extremely awkward moment of silence, with all available eyes on him, Ian could only think of one possible excuse. "Probably made in China." Ian stated aloud. Elias started off quickly towards Ian, with his head down. When he reached him, he put his arm around his shoulder in such a way, that it covered his face, and continued walking. "Let's go. I- I think you've worked out enough for to day." He said quietly to him. Once out side, he inhaled the rest of his cigarette, breathing out the smoke in a blurt of wheezy laughter. "I knew you were going to do something... But-" He interupted himself with another fit of weak giggling. "Bastard got the jump on me." Ian stated, a hint of irritation showing through his tone, the only emotion he had displayed all day. "So I guess you've seen my power now. Energy blades." "Oh. So. That's what that was." Elias said, with a hint of ssurprisein his voice. After a couple of seconds of silence, and a concentrated, allbeit at nothing, gaze, he mumbled to himself a little aaggressively"I wasn't going to." as if answering a question no one had asked. "So... You're one of those, umm... Mutants, right?" Elias asked, in the most casual way the strange, nervous man was capable of. "Metahuman." Ian replied. "I believe that's the term those who aren't afraid of us use." "I always heard there was some scientific difference between the two. Wait, us? What do you mean by us?" Elias inquired, checking his watch, that, if Ian was not mistaken, was a watch that would have come in a mid-90s McDonald's Happy Meal. "Oh! I've got to get going. I'll see you around." He said starting to walk off in the opposite direction. Ian watched curiously as Elias began walking away, quickly turning around the corner of the nearest building and disappearing form view. Ian had merely used the word "us" to refer to himself and other Metahumans, but it seemed to strike a cord with Elias. Ian made a mental note of this, perhaps being an important hint about his apparent ally. Though Ian had indeed aligned himself with Elias, but the man's nervous disposition seemed to be hiding something more, which made Ian hesitant to trust Elias just yet. Ian turned and began heading towards his apartment. Just as he rounded the first corner, he nearly collided with someone rushing down the sidewalk. "Sorr-" Ian started as the tried to continued on his way, but was quickly cut off by a sudden exclamation. "You!" a female voice shouted. Ian looked down at the pedestrian's face, seeing that it was the same girl from Achilles Gym. Looks like my luck hasn't run out yet after all. Ian thought. Second Encounter Elias was sitting in a chair, against the wall, at a table in the lobby of the gym, in a light sleep. The cold cup of coffee indicated he had been there for a couple of hours at least. He muttered a few things in what sounded like an alien language, then leaned up gasping for air. Now awake, he checked his watch, and stared towards the door. "What are you looking for?" a voiced asked from behind Elias. Quickly turning around, Elias saw none other then Ian standing behind him. Ian was once again in his sweat pants and navy blue tank top. "There you are!" Elias shouted excitedly "I found something! Look! Look!" He pulled a tattered newspaper article from his pocket, handing it to Ian. The title of the article read "Newhaven Mayor Hiring Vigilantes To Save Kidnapped Daughter". "It's like a help wanted add! It's perfect! It says hiring! That means money!" He nearly shrieked, his voice giddy at the prospect of making a profit. Ian took the paper form Elias and began reading. His face maintained its usual neutral expression as his eyes skimmed over the article. After a brief moment, Ian handed the newspaper back to Elias. "Alright, I guess we're heading to Newhaven." Ian stated. "Before we head out, we should go over our gear. Meet me at my apartment in an hour. We can do it there." "Hey! Hey, don't you want to know how I plan to get us there?" Elias goads. "How?" Ian asked, his monotone voice making it difficult to determine whether or not he truly cared about this information. Elias was to ecstatic with the genius of his plan to notice Ian's apathy. He reached into his jacket, and triumphically whipped out two public bus tickets, and screamed shrilly, overcome with excitement, "We'll take the bus!!!" holding the tickets high above his head. Ian stud motionless, looking at Elias, as was the few people in the gym that had decided to wake up this morning. Ian momentarily contemplated informing Elias of the sheer mediocrity of his plan, but decided it wouldn't achieve anything. As long as Elias had already paid for his ticket, it truly didn't matter. "Alright. When do we leave?" Newhaven Docks The sound of ships maneuvering cargo traveled through the air as the inaudible sounds of Newhaven were deafened by the large ship's in the midnight. "Aight boys move it carefully this way", Charlie would say as he guided one of the cranes. Suddenly the worker behind the machine would drop the large cargo unexpectantly as the blaring sound of the object would travel throughout the docks. "Ya idiot, be careful with that ya shmuck!", Charlie would say angrily. "You boys are irritating me. I'm gonna go take a smoke real quick", he says as he pulls a cigarrete out his pocket and starts to light it. "Hey Charlie, what's been happening", a kid would say as he approached the man. The kid looked to be about 18 as he was as skinny as a twig and of the average height. Piercings could be seen in his ears and lips as he wore a buzzcut on his head as well. "I don't have any business with ya Mackie", Charlie says. "Especially after ya bafoons grabbed the mayor's girl". "Pfft, it's all business", Mackie retorts. "We steal the girl and we get our demands in return". Unknowingly from afar, a dark silhouette would watch over the two on a crane with predatory eyes. Listening. Elias peaked his head out from an alley, looking at the two men talking. He turned and wispered to Ian, while checking his gun. "That's our guy, right?" Ian, still looking down at his own gun, waited a moment to answer Elias. The two of them had very quickly tracked the string of clues given to them by the mayor and arrived here at the docks. It was by far the most logical place to hide a kidnapping victim. Lots of large crates come and went without arousing much suspicion. "Probably." Ian said as he eased the slide forward on his Glock. "How many people are on the dock, and is there any way to tell how many guns we're looking at?" "Hell if I know. There's the two of them and at least one person working the crane." Elias said leaning his head out from behind the wall again. "What are you thinking?" Ian thought for a moment, relived to hear they weren't dealing with a large enemy force. The bodycount needed to be kept at a minimum of course. Though Ian had no problems with giving the scum of the world what was coming to them, the police would certainly be less appretiative of this course of action. First of all, he and Elias needed to find where the girl was being held, and what they were dealing with in terms of opposing firepower. He had a few ideas in his head, but one in particular stud out. "Do you think you could jack that crane Elias?" Ian asked, adjusting the fit on his bullet proof vest under his black hoodie. "Isn't that a little extreme? Couldn't we just grab the guy?" Elias asked in response. "Hard to grab him if we're being shot at." Ian explained "The guy up in that crane has a perfect vantage point. He'd spot us sneaking up on our target. If you can jack the crane, we can eliminate the possibility of being spotted and make them think everything is right in the world. Once we got their vantage point taken care of, it won't be too hard to deal with the other goons." "You betta hope that creacha doesn't come aftha you goons", Charlie says. "You really believe in that creature of the night nonsense?", Mackie ask. "It's just a story made up by the mayor and his boys to scare criminals", Mackie exclaims. Suddenly the lights would go out on the docks as everyone started to panic. The sounds of the midnight rolled across the docks as a abrupt howl emerged. "Hoooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwl!" "The city can't pay it's bills", Mackie says as he pulls a flashlight out his pocket. "I told ya it'll come for ya", Charlie reluctantly says as he begins to back away. "This is your business, not mine". "Oh please", Mackie retorts. "What the hell was that?" Elias asks startled by howl "Dammit! I'm not jacking a crane! I can't drive a car! How am I supposed use a crane? Look. Now's our chance. I'm going to take it!" he said in a panicked burst, not allowing himself time to get scared away, or think about the actual logistics of his plan, he ran at Mackie, diving to tackle him. "Damn it Elias." Ian grumbled. "Oh shit!", Mackie yells as Elias tackles him. "Boys the creature's got me!", he yells as he struggles to get Elias off him. He then shines his flashlight in Elias's face to identify what was on top of him. "You're not a monster you smook", Mackie says as he rushes him off. "But I am", a figure says as he appears behind Mackie. The figure donned a brown spandex suit decorated with apricot brown claw like marks across the suit. He was about 5'7, a kid a that who wore brown unkempted hair.....all over his body! He was the epitome of a human werewolf as fangs could be seen lined up in his mouth. "What in the fuck are you!", Mackie yells in terror. "Where are the reapers?", the figure ask. The situation was quickly getting out of hand. Ian was completely unprepared for the sudden appearance of this third party. Another "hero" who was likely looking to get his hands (or claws as the case may be) on the sizable reward hanging over the mayor's daughter. Whether this new arrival was friend or foe was yet to be determined, but Ian certainly wasn't going to fight the human-wolf hybrid if it wasn't necessary. Especially not when he had teeth like that. Ian crept around the edge of the docks, his Glock at the ready and he attempted to flank the scene, but he quickly noticed a light emerging from one of the aisles between the shipping containers. The second thug, no doubt armed, coming to the screams of his accomplice. "Damn." Ian muttered as he quickly made his way over to intercept Charlie. The werewolf figure would grab Mackie by the collar as he closed the distance between them. "Hi there", he says with a smirk. "Want to tell me where the girl is?", he ask. "I ain't telling you nothing freak!", Mackie says very frightened. "You sure about that?", he ask as he bares his fangs. "I haven't eaten in a while". "Ok! I'll talk", Mackie exclaims as he bares witness to the four prolonged fangs in the figure's mouth, two on top and two on bottom. "Go to St. John's cemetery and walk towards the angel statue. Just remove the book from her hands and a passageway will open, I swear!" "Thanks dude", he says as he drops Mackie. A second reaper gang member would come around the corner with a shotgun in hand aimed at the trio. "Shoot these fuckers!", Mackie yells. Elias who had been standing nearby, not knowing what to do, was suddenly startled into action. "Ian! Let's go!" He screamed, firing blindly at the gang members and runing back to the alley, to temporarily get cover. Having already placed himself at the corner where the light had shown, Ian was already in the perfect ambush point when the Repaer member emerged with his shotgun raised and a small flashlight held awkwardly between his hand and the firearm's pump. The gang member only managed one shot, a retaliation to Elias' blind fire, before Ian pounced. Using his energy blades, Ian swiftly sliced the shotgun in half at the receiver. Naturally, the thug attempted to bring his weapon around to face the new threat that had emerged form the dark, but was taken completely off guard by the fact his weapon separated in his hands. Taking advantage of the thug's confusion, Ian delivers a skull cracking pistol whip the the man's head, the weight of the fully loaded Glock effectively knocking the man unconscious. With the shotgun taken out of the equation, Ian hurried back through the dark towards the alley where Elias had taken cover, scanning for the wolf-man as he ran. "Let's go. St. John's cemetary." Elias said, gesturing, and starting off, away from the docks, tucking his gun in his waistband. "You get that from that punk back there?" Ian asked, sliding his Glock into his leg holster. "More-or-less. Wolf-kid, back there, got it out of him before I could." Elias stated plainly, then slowed his pace and turned around. "We should go, before more of them show up." Nodding, Ian began following Elias. So far tonight had presented more surprises than Ian was comfortable with. Elias had nearly eaten some buckshot and a freaky wolf-human hybrid was running around. Neither of them were completely sure what to expect at the Reaper's hideout, but Ian doubted it would be anything nice. What had he gotten himself into with this one? House of the Reapers The werewolf figure would skillfully pounce among the tombstones as he stopped at the statue of the angel. "This is where he said it'll be", he says as he removes the book in her hands. The statue begins to rumble as it slowly moves backward to reveal a staircase. "Bingo was his name-o", he says with a smirk. Elias approached, gun drawn. "Hey! Kid! You getting payed for this thing too?" He asked. "There's a reward for this?", he ask as he starts sniffing around. "That's great I guess, but I'm just in it to make the streets a better place". "Oh, and you can call me K-9", he says. "Now let's get this party started whoooooo!", he excitedly yells as he runs down the stairs ready for action. Elias's face crinkled with confusion, and disappointment that he'd now have to split the reward three ways, opposed to two, before following him down into the lair. Ian was about to protest when Elias began following the wolf child, K-9, into the hidden passage. Having little interest in waiting among the tombstones alone, Ian hesitantly followed as well. The stairs would eventually lead the two to a large corridor as the walked down the halls of the mysterious underground base. K-9 would then suddenly stop as he began to sniff the air once more. "There are about 7 people in the room ahead", he says to Elias "You ready to spring into action?". "I guess so." Elias said wearily, checking the safety of his gun. "We're just rushing in?" Ian asked, not particularly liking the idea. "You do recall we have a hostage to deal with. If we aren't careful she could be the first one to take a bullet once we get in there. If that happens not only will no one be getting paid, but we're going to have to explain to the mayor of Newhaven why his daughter is dead. I don't know about you two, but that sounds like a bad day no matter how you look at it." "What do you propose?" Elias asked. "They're in a hidden catacomb lair. It's not like we can exactly look in the windows." He said, scratching his face with the barrel of his gun. Ian was about to say something against Elias superb display of gun safety, especially with the safety left off, but decided against it and began contemplating their options for dealing with the reapers. Ian looked between Elias and K-9 for a few moments before looking back the way they had come. "How much do you think that statue up there weighed?" Ian finally asked. "Be a shame if it fell on somebody while they were investigating a strange howl." "No offense but I'm not really liking that plan", K-9 says as he picks his ear. "I'm more of a live for the moment type of guy", he says as he then stretches a bit. "Sometimes you just gotta jump in!", he says as he runs around the corner to confront all seven reapers. What the fuck is that?" , one of them say. "Hola , me puede llamar a la K -9 y voy a estar servirle su arresto hoy", K-9 says. There was a brief silence following K-9's entrance into the Reapers' main chamber, as none of the thugs were quite sure how to respond to the dog man's sudden appearance. Five of the goons sat around a small table cluttered with playing cards and ash trays, surrounded by a worn sofa and two folding chairs. Two more goons were in the chamber, one retrieving a beer from a mini fridge and the other with what looked like a cigarette dangling between his lips standing by a large metal box. "Oh dear god." Ian stated from around the corner, breaking the confused silence. Elias stood still, and stared blankly, only moving to take a swig from his flask, and put it back in his jacket. "I say we count to like... 25 or something. Cause by then either: they'll kill him, and they won't be expecting us, or he'll be eating one of their throats, and they'll be distracted. What do you think?" He asked, still staring off. "Well it seems my plans just go out the window anyway, but these idiots are either too drunk or too stoned to know what to do, so I say we just hit them before they sober up." Ian took his Glock out of his holster and chambered the first round. "I don't care what the fuck it is, kill it!", one of them yells as they all pull out sub-machine guns and start firing rapidly. K-9 however, starts dodging the bullets effortlessly with his agility as he backflips and somersaults out the way of certain death. "You guys don't play around", he says. Suddenly a bullet abruptly strikes K-9 through the chest. "Oh....crap", he says as he falls face first. "Never play with death", Grimm the leader of the reapers says as stands behind K-9's body wielding a pistol in hand. "You other two can come out now I know you're here", he says. Ian cursed under his breath. Needless to say things had gone downhill rather quickly. With options limited, Ian reluctantly stepped out form around the corner, his Glock raised, shifting form Reaper to Reaper as he scanned for the nearest available cover. "Remind me to sign you up for obedience school." Ian said flatly, directing the comment towards K-9. "I- I think he's dead." Elias said, with a tinge of dissapointment in his voice, following Ian. K-9 would suddenly kick flip up as the hole in his chest was now gone. "I'm ok", he says with a smirk. "As I always say, as long as it ain't silva it ain't gonna kill ya!", he says as he gets ready for battle. "What in the hell!?", one of the reapers say surprised by K-9's sudden condition. "I'm not messing with a werewolf, I'm out", he says as he runs out the catacombs. "Sorry boss", another would say as he runs away two with another trailing behind him. "Cowards. Make sure after we murder these three we slit their throats", Grimm would say to his remaining four henchmen. "Kill them", he says as he watches the fight unfold. ~Battle Pause~ "Looks like you need better help", K-9 says to Grimm as he dust off his hands. "My partners uhhh.....Energy Blade guy and....uhh...pistol whipper? I don't know we'll work on their names later, but the point is we're taking you down!" With a vexed look on his face, Grimm slowly removes his heavy leather jacket as his defined stature is revealed. Standing at 6'6 and heavily built, Grimm cracks his neck as he prepares to engage in battle. "Welcome to your end", he says as sweat and testerone already flowing from his bald head. "Can't you just give us the girl and we call it a night?" Ian groaned. "At this point she can't be worth all the trouble." "Hmm let me weigh my options", Grimm contemplates. "Option 1 - stop this escalade, give the girl back, and face 5 years in prison. Or Option 2 - put a bullet in all your heads and get my ransom". "Hon-" K-9 would then raise his hand wildly as if a student wanting to blurt out the answer to a teacher in a classroom. "W-what are you doing?", Grimm ask confusingly. "Raising my hand so I won't be rude when interupting you, duh", K-9 says as he continues to raise his hand high. "Y-yes first guy I'm going to kill", Grimm annoyingly says as he calls on K-9. "So is Option 1 still on the table or do we have to settle for Option 2?", he ask. ".....I'm going to kill you now", Grimm says as he pulls out his two pistols. "You guys go ahead, I'll sit this one out", K-9 says as he lays down on the half shot up couch. After Grimm falls unconcious to the ground K-9 jumps off the couch with his pointed ears perked up. "You guys here crying?", he ask as he sniffs around the catcombs before finding a cellar in the darkest corners of the Reaper's base. As K-9 peaks into the cellar he spots Grace, the kidnapped daughter of the mayor of Newhaven. "*Gasp*", she exclaims as she is slightly frightened by tye sight of K-9? "Oh wait wait wait wait, I'm the good guy", K-9 says with a smirk. He would then tear the cellar door off and extend his hand to help Grace out the pit. "Your dad misses you", he says as to the 8 year old as he helps her climb out the pit. "We should get you back to him!, he says. "What the mutt said." Ian stated, holstering his Glock. "Your daddy sent us to come pick you up." Elias picked up his gun and reloaded it, tucking it in his jacket only breifly, then pulling it back out. Standing in the shadows, the room away, Elias began to mutter to himself. "No! ... No! He's- He's worth more alive! He can keep helping u- ... What? Wh- ... No! No! I won't do it!" That last time he nearly screamed. The stone walls absorbing most of the noise, as his arm twisted and contorted. Two wills grappling over control. "No!" He screamed again. Discharging the gun into the ceiling, dropping it, and falling to the floor. His eyes teary as he slumped on his side, and laid there for a few brief moments. Elias' sudden outburst caught Ian by surprise. Nervously sliding his hand over the grip of his Glock, Ian took a hesitant step towards Elias. "Are you alright?" Ian asked, trying to sound sympathetic but not managing much more than his usual monotone voice. "Yeah- Yeah... I just dropped my gun." He said hesitantly after jumping up. "It slipped out of my hand, and... Went off." K-9 would pick the girl up on his back as he walked over to Elias to check on him as well. "You ok bro?", he ask. "Probably nothing a cash reward won't help." Ian said. "We should hurry up with that and get the police down here before these losers wake up." "Already on it", K-9 says. "You guys grab the bad guys and I'll return Grace to her dad", he says as he bolts out the catacombs with Grace on his back. Ian was about to call after K-9, but the human-wolf hybrid was already around the corner. Cursing under his breath, Ian turned to Elias. "You better go with him." Ian said. "I'll be damned if I let that mutt rip us off and take all the reward money for this gig." "If I get my throat bitten out by that damn kid, it's on you." Elias said looking back as he left the catacomb. As Elias left the main chamber in pursuit of K-9 and Grace, Ian was dragging one of the unconscious thugs into the center of the chamber. "Probably need to worry about flees more than him biting you." Ian muttered to himself. After a few moments, Ian had dragged all five of the Reaper thugs, including Grimm in the center of the chamber. Now all that was left was to handcuff the thugs and wait for the police to arrive. Ian reached into his back pocket and pulled out his zip cuffs, all two of them. Ian looked at the two cuffs, then at the five unconscious thugs at his feet. "Damn it." Newhaven City Hall K-9 would run down the street of Newhaven with Grace on his back as he stopped in front of Newhaven City Hall. "There are still squad cars out here, so your dad must still be cooperating with the cops", K-9 says as he puts Grace down. "Thank you so much doggy", Grace would say as she hugged K-9. "No problem. Now let's get you inside to your dad", he would say as he holds her hand into the building. "YO!", he would yell. K-9's sudden outburst would startle the mass of media, cops, and politicians in front of them as they would look at the werewolf boy in a startled and puzzled fashion as they all wondered what he was. "I come in peace and I bring Grace with me", he says. "It can talk.....", one of the cops would say. "The myths on the streets are true...", another would say. "GRACE!", Mayor Brandt would yell as he ran up and embraced his daughter. "Are you Ok?", he ask. "That nice doggy saved me", she responds. Elias runs in, putting his hands on his thighs, leaning down, and breathing heavily. "I- ... I was there too... I knocked the... The bald one out." He struggled to say. "You made it", K-9 says as he waves to Elias. "This is Elias, him and his partner Ian took down the Reapers and Grimm. I think Ian has them round up at their base". "Amazing", Mayor Brandt says in awe. "The Reapers have been a nuisance for 7 years and you took them down in a couple of hours. I thank you very very much" he says as he shakes both K-9 and Elias hand. "I'll have you rewarded for your brave actions soon enough. So where is the other one who helped you two?" As if on cue Ian appeared, shielding his eyes from a volley of camera flashes emanating from the crowd. He was carrying a large hockey bad in one hand as he approached Elias, K-9 and Mayor Brandt. Ian's expression was blank as usual, but it was apparent he wasn't enjoying the spotlight. "The Reapers we defeated are all subdued." Ian stated to the Mayor, ignoring a question form a member of on of the news crews. "I zipped tied two of them, and stuffed the other three in the container they had your daughter in." Ian dropped the hockey bag on the ground, which landed with a hard thud. "I confiscated all the weapons I could find. The thugs shouldn't be dangerous when the police arrive anyway. I had to dump a ton of drugs out of this bag to make room for the weapons. They should still be in a pile near the crate." Ian paused, looked out towards the firing squad of cameras while still shielding his eyes. "I hate to be blunt Mayor Brandt, but I don't enjoy the public eye as much as you do. I would very much appreciate it if me and my colleage, could receive the agreed upon payment and be on our way." Why of course, of course!", Mayor Brandt says as he snaps his fingers towards his assistant. "Write these three heroes three checks for 3-no 5 thousand dollars", he bodly says with a smirk. "Each might I add". The assistant's pen rapidly moves as he quickly writes three checks out to the three. "Here you are", he says as he hands a check to K-9, Elias, and Ian. "Oooh a check", K-9 says as he studies it. "Thank you Mayor Brandt." Ian said, a hint of gratitude slipping into his tone. "I'll leave these firearms here for the police to deal with. I'm pretty sure they're all unregistered." With that, Ian began hastily walking away, but quickly stopped and turned when he realized Elias wan't following. Elias was still trying to catch his breath, his hands back on his thighs, crinkling the check between his hand and leg. He inhaled deeply then turned around, and walked after Ian. As he walked past the reporters he withdrew the flask from his jacket, and drank deeply from it. He turned to Ian and wispered "Is this what this's gonna be like?" Ian began walking again with Elias at his flank. "Like what." Ian asked. "Combating dangerous criminals to rescue spoiled rich kids that won't even remember our names? Tagging with humanoid freaks of nature who let us do the heavy lifting? Dealing with the vultures of the media who have no respect for our privacy?" Elias turned to him. "Yeah. That." Ian let a brief smirk slip as he and Elias rounded the corner, Newhaven City Hall disappearing form view. "So cynical Elias."